Sea Dogs Notebook

KELLY TALKS TRADE PERIOD

Sea Dogs director of hockey operations and associate coach Mike Kelly spoke to the Times & Transcript earlier this week aboutthe trade period.

"We think we have a good team and our best players are our older players," said Kelly. "Obviously, when you're in that position you're going to try to improve your team if you can and we'll look to do that.

"We go into the trade period with the attitude that yes we want to improve our team, but we're not going to pay over the top. What we believe is fair is what we'll stick with and if we're not able to get trades done then we'll move on."

Kelly wouldn’t say if he was after a specific player.

"We've talked to a lot of teams about a lot of players," said Kelly. "I don't get into specifics. I don't think it's fair to the kids."

It’s been a fairly quiet trade period so far. The deadline is January 7.

STORE HOURS

Christmas is almost here – and Sea Dogs Styles has extended store hours. From the Sea Dogs:

The store will be open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Dec. 23. The last day for Sea Dog Styles Christmas shopping will be on Dec. 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Fans looking to browse merchandise online can do so via the store’s new and improved web page at http://saintjohnseadogs.com/page/merch. For orders outside normal hours, fans can email info@saintjohnseadogs.com

I was down there yesterday. The Sea Dogs’ Memorial Cup commemorative book, ‘Hockey Heaven,’ is unreal. They also have some new hat styles and the jumbo hockey cards of each player have returned.

Also, Cleve’s Source for Sports has an unlimited amount of Memorial Cup championship hats (pictured).

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Speaking of Christmas, Telegraph-Journal columnist Peter McGuire had his annual gift giving piece in Tuesday’s paper. This year’s edition features plenty of gifts related to the 2012 Memorial Cup host site selection.

Scott McCain - a second Memorial Cup championship. Let's have former prime minister Jean Chretien - an ambassador for Shawinigan - present the hardware, offering congratulations to McCain, whose reply might be, 'Thanks. You may have won the battle, but we won the war.' 

The 2012 Memorial Cup Selection Committee - not a darn thing.

Some solid gifts right there.

COYLE FACTOR

One school that won’t be missing Charlie Coyle – the University of Massachusetts.

MassLive.com posted an article on Sunday that basically said Coyle has killed UMass in his Hockey East career. “So in five games against UMass, Coyle had two goals and five assists for seven points,” writes Dick Baker.

Wonder which one QMJHL team he’ll dominate?

COYLE ARTICLE

On Monday, the Red Deer Advocate had an article on Coyle. Turns out he hasn’t watched a whole ot of junior hockey in his life.

“To be honest, I haven’t watched a lot of major junior,” Coyle said.

“I’ve always been a college guy and that’s what I’ve watched out for. It’ll be a different change, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m just going to keep playing my game. I think that’s why Saint John liked me, so we’ll see what it brings. I’ll just keep working hard and playing my game.”

Coyle also talks about his style of game in the article and reveals that the Sea Dogs have been asking about him “for a few years . . . a year or two.”

DESPRES ARTICLE

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had an article on former Sea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres on Tuesday. The Penguins rookie netted his first career NHL goal on Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres.

"It's clear to see how good a player he can be and how long he's going to play in the National Hockey League," coach Dan Bylsma said. "He's still developing, still learning the game a little bit and learning his game, but you could see it right away, almost from his first shift up here, that he possesses all those skills."

Despres has done a solid job with the Pens so far. He has a goal, two assists, and a +3 rating in nine games.

DESPRES SPEAKS

Here’s Despres speaking to the media after Saturday’s game.

FIGHT

Here’s Denis Creighton taking on William Cochrane in last Friday’s contest in Cape Breton.